It was while her family was living in Las Vegas that Antonia attended high school there; she was one of the sports cheerleaders for the Las Vegas High SchoolWildcats, and graduated as part of the class of 1961. Already known by the nickname "Toni" by this time, she later incorporated her cheerleading experience into her dance career[2] (see below) and her performance of "Mickey" (also see below) in both performing the selection and choreographing its video. It is worth noting that her original cheerleading uniform from that period was not the same as the one she wore in the video for "Mickey;" that uniform had been re-designed by then, and it was the re-designed version that she wore in the video. She moved to Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico for a brief time in the early 1990s.

Toni had been dancing professionally since childhood, but her adult career started when she served as an assistant choreographer and dancer on Shindig!, a breakthrough music variety show which premiered on the ABC network in 1964. In addition, Toni was assistant choreographer and a dancer on the 1964 concert film The T.A.M.I. Show (Teen-Age Music International) choreographed by David Winters,[3] which featured fellow dancer and friend, Teri Garr. Some of her 1960s film choreography work include Village of the Giants (1965), The Cool Ones (1967), and the Monkees's 1968 film Head in which she is partnered on-screen with Davy Jones during "Daddy's Song."

Basil is one of the seven original Lockers, the street dance group considered "the group that changed the face of dance." She is recognized as a seminal influence in bringing street dance to the attention of the American public. A 2012 Dance Magazine article cited Basil as the pioneer in merging ballet with street dance for a piece she choreographed for Saturday Night Live, "Swan Lake," in 1978.[6]

The Lockers[7] opened and toured with Frank Sinatra, including performances at Carnegie Hall. They opened for Funkadelic at Radio City Music Hall and many acts in Las Vegas, and made countless television appearances including the third episode of Saturday Night Live.

Basil's recording career began in 1966 with a single for A&M Records which was the title song from the short film Breakaway. This film was made by internationally famous filmmaker and artist Bruce Conner. Basil was asked as a solo artist to sing the swinging jazz number "Wham Rebop Boom Bam" in the first season of Saturday Night Live. This came as a result of her sold out solo shows at The Roxy in Los Angeles, and singing the song on The Merv Griffin Show. She appeared as a guest during the first season of Saturday Night Live as one of The Lockers and on later seasons as a singer as well as a filmmaker with her urban style Swan Lake. In 1982, she released the single "Mickey", which went on to achieve international success. This song is a cover of "Kitty," a 1979 release by the UK band Racey, written by British songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and produced by Chapman. The original song did not include the famous 'Oh Mickey, you're so fine' chant, which Basil added.

"Mickey" was actually recorded in 1980 and the video was conceived, directed, and choreographed by Basil herself for the UK-based label Radialchoice nearly a year before the inception of MTV in 1981. Issued on Chrysalis Records in September 1982, the song knocked Lionel Richie from No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December. The infectious 45 was quickly certified Gold and in early 1983 reached Platinum status for sales of over 2 million copies in the United States alone. The music video for "Mickey" was one of the most popular early MTV videos. In the video, Basil wore her head cheerleader uniform from Las Vegas High School from which she graduated. During an interview on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of The 80's", Basil revealed that she still owns the same cheerleader sweater she wore in the video. In 2009, VH1 ranked "Mickey" Number 6 on its list of the 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the '80s.[8]

For television, Basil has appeared as an actress and featured singer/dancer in many television shows and specials. She co-directed and choreographed two BBC specials with Alan Walsh and Ken Stephenson called "Toni Basil Tape 1" and "Toni Basil Tape 2".[9]

Basil's recording career consists of only two albums. Her first album, 1982's Word of Mouth included a second Hot 100 single "Shoppin' from A to Z," as well as three songs by Devo, with the group providing the backing track. The track "Space Girls" was a re-recording of a 1974 Devo demo titled "Space Girl Blues" that would later be released on Devo's "Hardcore Devo: Volume One". Devo member Gerald Casale and Basil were in a relationship at the time, and Basil had been an early supporter of the group.

Toni Basil (1983), her eponymous second album, yielded a third and final Hot 100 charting single, "Over My Head," which reached No. 4 on the U.S. Dance chart. Her song "Girls Night Out" appeared on the soundtrack to the 1986 movie Modern Girls. To date, there have been five Toni Basil best of collections released on CD. In 1999, DJ and producer Jason Nevins's dance remix of "Mickey" was a club hit in Europe and Australia.

Basil contributed vocals for the Devo song "The Only One" in 1987, which wasn't released until 2000 on the demo compilation Recombo DNA.

Basil directed short art films including Game of the Week, A Dance Film, Out Trip, and The Ping Pong Match. Predating music videos, these avant garde pieces found a new audience and were exhibited at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, the Getty Museum, and New York University's Grey Art Gallery. The Los Angeles Times noted Basil's 'deft editing transformed an ordinary ping pong match between Gray & Stockwell (both noted American actors) into an energetic dance routine.

The music video for "Mickey" is considered the first choreographed dance video, and due to its heavy play on MTV, inspired countless music videos of the modern era.[12] The opening stunt, where a cheerleader jumps through the center of a human pyramid, is now illegal in competition.

Aside from directing her own video for "Mickey," she also directed and choreographed the video for Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime", featuring lead singer David Byrne against a white background in a similar style to Basil's "Mickey."

Basil won an Emmy Award in 2007 for her choreography in the commercial "MC Hammer: My Braves". Her awards include Hip Hop International's Living Legend Award, a Grammy nomination for Long Form Video ("Word Of Mouth") 1983, an Emmy nomination and win for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography / The Smothers Brothers 1988,[13] two MTV Award nominations, American Choreography Awards: Four nominations & two wins including Lifetime Achievement Innovator, and The Los Angeles Theater Ovation: Street Dance Award. Exhibitions include the Museum of Modern Art: videos and the Santa Monica Museum of Art: Short films. She has also received platinum and gold discs in the USA, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Philippines, and France. Her single Mickey was installed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the groundbreaking singles of the 1980s.[14] She was given tribute at The Carnival: Choreographer’s Ball, Monsters of Hip-Hop Masters of Movement, and in Portraits of America's Great Choreographers. She was featured in the Museum of Modern Art Calendar of Artists and on the cover of Dance Magazine.

^Karger, Dave (November 1, 1996). "What Ever Happened To...?". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 31, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2012. Her picture may be hanging in Cleveland as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's 14 exemplary One Hit Wonders, but don't mention that three-word curse around Toni Basil.